Arundo prope stagnum crescit, et ventus arundines movet.

They are two different forms of the same noun.

• arundo = reed (singular)
• arundines = reeds (plural)

So the sentence first talks about a reed growing near the pond, and then says that the wind moves reeds. Latin often changes the ending of a noun to show number.

Crescit is the 3rd person singular present tense form of crescere, meaning to grow.

It matches the subject arundo, which is singular:

• arundo crescit = the reed grows / a reed is growing

If the subject were plural, the verb would also be plural, for example crescunt.

Because its subject is ventus, which is singular.

• ventus = wind
• movet = moves

So:

• ventus movet = the wind moves

Latin verbs change form to match their subject in person and number, just as English distinguishes I move, he moves, they move.

We know mainly from the case endings.

• ventus is nominative singular, which is the normal case for the subject.
• arundines is accusative plural here, which is the normal case for a direct object.

So ventus arundines movet means the wind moves the reeds, not the reeds move the wind.

This is one of the biggest differences from English: Latin relies much more on endings than on word order.

Prope means near and is a preposition. In Latin, prepositions usually require a certain case. Prope takes the accusative, so we get:

• prope stagnum = near the pond

Here stagnum is accusative singular.

Because not every accusative is a direct object. Some prepositions require the accusative case, and prope is one of them.

So in:

• prope stagnum

the word stagnum is accusative because of the preposition prope, not because it is the object of a verb.

Classical Latin does not have articles like English the and a/an.

So:

• arundo can mean a reed or the reed
• ventus can mean a wind or the wind
• stagnum can mean a pond or the pond

The exact sense usually comes from context. That is why one Latin sentence can sometimes be translated into English in more than one natural way.

The word order is meaningful, but it is more flexible than in English.

This sentence is:

• Arundo prope stagnum crescit, et ventus arundines movet.

A very literal order would be:

• Reed near pond grows, and wind reeds moves.

That sounds odd in English, but it is normal in Latin because the endings show the grammar. Latin authors can move words around for emphasis, style, or rhythm, while still keeping the meaning clear.

Arundo is a 3rd declension noun.

Its singular form here is arundo, and its plural accusative form in the sentence is arundines. That change may look surprising if you are expecting a simple -s plural like in English, but in Latin noun endings depend on declension and case.

So this sentence is also a good reminder that you need to learn nouns with their patterns, not just as isolated vocabulary items.

They come from different conjugations:

• crescit comes from crescere, a 3rd conjugation verb
• movet comes from movere, a 2nd conjugation verb

Even though both are translated with simple present verbs in English, their infinitives have different endings, and that affects how their forms are built.

Et is the ordinary Latin word for and.

It links the two clauses:

• Arundo prope stagnum crescit
• ventus arundines movet

So the whole sentence simply joins two related ideas: one about the reed growing, and one about the wind moving the reeds.

In this sentence, prope stagnum naturally goes with the verb idea grows near the pond, but it also describes where the reed is. In practice, the meaning is very similar either way.

So you can understand the first clause as:

• A reed grows near the pond or
• The reed near the pond grows

The context would decide which English wording sounds best.

A reconstructed Classical pronunciation would be approximately:

• Arundo prope stagnum crescit, et ventus arundines movet
• ah-ROON-doh PROH-peh STAHG-noom KRES-kit, et WEN-toos ah-roon-DIH-nes MOH-wet

A few useful points:

• c in crescit is always hard, like k
• v in ventus was pronounced more like w
• every vowel is pronounced clearly

Exact pronunciation depends on whether you are learning Classical or Ecclesiastical Latin, but the grammar is the same.